Posts Tagged by driving behavior
Energy-Related Paradigm Shifts
| September 2, 2009 | Posted by Craig Shields under Electric Vehicles |
I’m pleased to see that blogger Frank Eggers has become active here, who writes:
As one of the comment-posters stated, too little attention is being given to reducing the need for driving . . . With better urban planning, people could often walk where they need to go, ride a bicycle, or use public transportation. But with scattered development, public transportation cannot be made efficient.
This is all true. And I do think I see the seeds of this thinking in young people leaving college with the relevant degrees to get into this subject professionally. Clearly, however, such change will be a long time in the making.
Another issue slowing down the reduction in driving is simply individuals’ resistance to change. I’m reminded of Thomas Edison, who, when he introduced alternating current in the late 19th century, recognized that it represented a scary paradigm shift for American consumers, and wanted to “mess with” that paradigm as little as possible. So, to suggest a way in which electricity could replace gas for room lighting, he put his new lights in the wall sconces where the gas lamps had been. Previously, one could only light a room from the walls, since gas lamps on the ceiling would have brought the whole place down in flames. Even though Edison wished he could show the world a breakthrough in illuminating a room with the more practical and effective ceiling lighting, he wanted to introduce no more change than was absolutely necessary.
My point here is that the best ideas of the generation and use of energy are those that call upon people to make the least change in their attitudes and behaviors. This, btw, is my chief concern about the Commuter Car in the previous post; it calls upon the automotive consumer to make a radical shift in perception, and it’s unclear to me how that will be embraced.
